Environmental Sustainability
Products and the Environment
Material Content
The materials used in every Hasbro product and each product’s packaging must be durable for use by our consumers and minimize impacts on the environment. We continually evaluate our materials to ensure we are meeting the highest standards possible. For example, in our U.S. factory, we now use vegetable-based printing inks and aqueous coatings in our printing processes for game and puzzle components, boxes and instructions.
PVC Phase Out
We understand that there are environmental concerns regarding the production, use and disposal of PVC. While PVC is recyclable in principle, its durability means that it is used in long-lasting products like water pipes and decking which are rarely recycled in practice. As a result, appropriate collection networks and processing facilities are not abundant, making PVC challenging and expensive to recycle.
We are working to eliminate PVC from our packaging beginning in 2013, for all new core toy and game products. This covers packaging for Hasbro products produced in our owned and operated manufacturing facilities and by third party factories. No new packaging for brand products manufactured in 2013 will use PVC. Prior to 2013, we will continue to phase out PVC from packaging wherever feasible, as with our subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast.
Currently, we have two forms of product packaging that use PVC:
- Blister packaging, which features a cavity or pocket where the product sits; and
- Window box packaging.
After preliminary testing to ensure comparable clarity and adhesion, we have identified two substitute materials for PVC in packaging:
- PET, a more environmentally-friendly and easily recyclable substance used to make disposable beverage bottles; and
- RPET, or partially recycled PET.
Not only are PET and RPET more easily recycled than PVC, they release no toxins when incinerated (the most common form of disposal).
While we are confident that PET and RPET are both good substitutes for PVC in packaging, there are challenges associated with using these materials. In particular, RPET is not readily available in China where most of our manufacturing takes place. To drive the switch to PET and RPET toward cost neutrality, we will therefore look to decrease the size of window box and blister packaging to offset the costs of sourcing these PVC substitutes.
Wizards Make PVC Disappear
Wizards of the Coast, a Hasbro subsidiary, began to rapidly phase out PVC packaging from the entire product lines in 2009, substituting easier-to-recycle PET or RPET (partially recycled PET) plastics. In just two years, Wizards of the Coast has phased out PVC from most packaging.
In 2010 Wizards of the Coast moved from PVC to PET for all blister packaging, and in 2011 moved from PET to RPET on over 70 percent of Wizards’ product.
Building on Wizards’ swift and significant success toward eliminating PVC from most packaging, we will continue to adopt PET and RPET more broadly in pursuit of our goal to eliminate PVC from packaging in all Hasbro core toys and games beginning in 2013.
Our owned and operated U.S. factory which makes many of our Hasbro board games and puzzles, has received green certification for its printing processes by the nonprofit Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP). Certification requires compliance with rigorous sustainability standards in three areas: production input materials; environmental, health and safety impacts of the manufacturing process; and the daily functions of the factory and its supporting activities.
Not only did Hasbro meet or exceed all of SGP’s criteria, but we have incorporated its standards into the site’s daily printing operations and our internal audit process.
We are proud of this validation of our efforts to integrate the most effective sustainability practices into our manufacturing process.